Concealment through camouflage is used extensively by the military to reduce enemy perception of military installations, units, equipment and personnel, with the objective to enhance mission success, provide tactical advantage and survival. The general purpose of camouflage is to disrupt the perceived image of a target object, whether the target object is a person, vehicle, building or other object. A goal of effective camouflage is to make the target object unrecognizable or indistinguishable from the environment in which it is in.
The importance of camouflage can vary based on the terrain and mission. In military applications for example, the camouflage objectives are generally to minimize visual perception of soldiers in daylight and detection by image intensifier devices in reduced or non-daylight environments. While camouflage is very often discussed and employed with respect to military applications, other outdoor activities can also make use of camouflage patterns, including for example, hunting and wildlife observation.
To be effective, camouflage must be capable of being seen by an observer. In military applications, the objective is to make the soldier appear to be an organic part of the scene in a manner that will not cue an observer's eye. The term “cue” as is used herein, is generally intended to mean to draw attention or focus. Disruptive camouflage or disruptive patterning is a form of camouflage that works by breaking up the outlines of the object using a strongly contrasting pattern that is applied to the object. In such disruptive patterning, the disruption of the outline(s) of the object depends on the high contrast of the camouflage pattern.
A camouflage pattern will typically include one or more blotches of color. The term “blotch” or “blotches” as is used herein, generally refers to varying regular shapes (e.g., but not limited to circles, ovals, ellipses) and irregular shapes all of varying sizes, dimensions, appearance, contrast and color.
Generally, the blotches of color in the camouflage have to be conspicuous. If the level of breakup of a camouflage pattern for a particular background or conflict distance is insufficient, the soldier will not blend with the scene. If the soldier does not blend in with the scene, the soldier can be detected or cued in on from a further range. It would be advantageous to provide a camouflage pattern where the observer will perceive more break-up of the camouflage pattern over longer distances.
An effective camouflage pattern is a first line of defense against an opposing force. Not being detected will increase survivability. It would be advantageous to provide a camouflage pattern that offers improved concealment and will enhance force protection and survivability for soldiers.
There have been many approaches trying to address camouflage patterns. The most common appearance of military camouflage are various forms of curving shapes in the camouflage pattern that appear in three to four natural “earth tone” colors. One example of such an approach is the “woodland” pattern, used by the U.S. Army beginning in 1981 for its Battle Dress Uniform. A four color pattern chosen for this design included the colors Light Green, Dark Green, Brown and Black. In an article written by Alvin O. Ramsley entitled “Psychophysics of Modern Camouflage” (U.S. Army Natick Research and Development Laboratories, 1982), the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, the performance and advantages of this four color pattern over the older pattern that it replaced are discussed. In certain environments, this four color pattern provided the advantage of a disruptive pattern at longer ranges than previously realized. However, the Woodland pattern may not perform well across the range of environments and terrains in which the military currently operates.
Based on efforts conducted in coordination with the US Army Corps of Engineers Cold Regions Research and Engineering Center (CRREL), the Global Land Cover 2000 (GLC2000) product developed by the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization may be used in determining land cover classes and further used as a means to describe terrain types with military relevance. These classes have been categorized into arid, woodland and transitional.
In using the GLC2000 classifications, vegetation types generally consist of trees, shrubs and cropland/herbaceous (grasses). The types of terrain areas and background can generally be defined in terms of crown cover—the percentage of ground that is covered by plant perimeters (e.g. trees, shrubs, or grass). Arid areas can be classified either as “bare areas” along with a color for the predominant sand/soil in the environment (“bare areas—dark” for example) or “sparse herbaceous/sparse shrub cover” (SHSSC). A deciding factor between the arid, transitional and woodland areas can be based on the amount of crown cover that is present in the scene. In order for a SHSSC area to be considered arid, the area would need to have less than 20% crown cover (consisting of shrubs or grasses only, not trees), otherwise the area is classified as transitional. A woodland area is generally a closed crown situation (>60% crown cover) and the terrain is generally made up mostly of trees (height would be greater than 5 m). Transitional areas would be made up of any area dominated by shrubs, crops, mixed tree covers (containing both trees and shrubs), savannas or a combination thereof. The Army Woodland BDU was designed for a limited environment consisting of green leafy terrain with a heavy canopy. The Woodland BDU can be perceived to be too dark in terrains such as arid or transitional areas. This can reduce the effectiveness of the Army Woodland BDU in environments other than those for which it was originally designed.
For military applications, creating a camouflage out of a replica of a single specific background is inadequate. The military needs camouflage that will be applicable in many different environments and under different weather conditions with the minimum number of uniform sets. In addition, the military needs a camouflage pattern that works well in the visible spectrum, as well as in the near-infrared (NIR) and shortwave infrared (SWIR) range of the spectrum.
U.S. Design Pat. No. D487,848 to Crye et al. issued on 30 Mar. 2004 (the “'848 patent”), is directed to a camouflage pattern applied to a substrate. The colors in the '848 patent tend to be light and muted, causing them to be of low contrast relative to each other. Also, the blotch sizes of the camouflage pattern of the '848 patent, such as, for example, the cream and dark brown blotches, are small in size and area. These factors can contribute to a pattern being perceived by an observer as merged together at distances that are shorter than desired.
The low contrast of the colors of the '848 patent can be disadvantageous, as colors with low contrast will be perceived to merge together into a single color at shorter distances. It would be advantageous to provide a camouflage pattern that includes colors with a high contrast relative to each other and that will allow for a camouflage pattern to maintain an effective range over a greater distance before the colors in the pattern appear to the observer to merge into a single monotone color.
Smaller color differences between blotches in a camouflage pattern demonstrate low contrast. Larger differences in color between blotches demonstrate higher contrast. Color can be defined as dimensions of a stimulus expressed in terms of lightness (or value, going from white to grey to black), hue (e.g. red, green, blue, etc.) and saturation, or colorfulness. The term “saturation” as used herein generally refers to the amount of color in a given hue. It would be advantageous to provide a camouflage pattern where the colors are highly saturated and appear more vibrant, to increase the internal contrast and maintain an effective range over a longer distance.
In the '848 patent, the blotch sizes of the camouflage design, such as, for example, the cream and dark brown blotches are small in size and area. This reduces the amount of the lightest and darkest colors in the overall pattern. However, the use of such smaller size pattern blotches will generally pose difficulties with the pattern blending in with larger clutter that may be apparent in the environment or scene. Smaller size blotches will also have a tendency to appear to an observer to merge into a monotone color at shorter ranges. It would be advantageous to provide a camouflage pattern where the sizes of the blotches in the camouflage pattern are enlarged to help give the pattern more perceived visual breakup over a longer distance. It would also be advantageous to increase the amount of area used in the pattern by, for example, the two colors that are of the highest contrast relative to each other to improve the effective range of the pattern before it is perceived to merge into a monotone color.
It is also noted that the gradients in the '848 patent are generally subtle due to the low contrast between the colors and the design of the screens used to print the patterns. A gradient can be defined as an area of color that is not uniform, for example, it may be increasing or decreasing in the amount of colored ink applied along a particular direction. Contrast can be generally defined, in terms of camouflage patterns, as the level of difference in lightness, hue or saturation between two or more neighboring blotches of color. The subtle gradients of the '848 patent together with the low contrast between colors will generally provide a shorter effective range of the pattern. It would be advantageous to provide an increased gradient to provide a more dramatic difference between the lightest and darkest areas of a camouflage pattern.
Due to the light and muted nature of the colors of the '848 patent, a noticeable difference can be recognized when, for example, clothing or equipment with the pattern of the '848 patent is mixed with clothing or equipment with patterns having darker colored patterns. As clothing and equipment patterns are printed darker, it would be advantageous to provide a camouflage pattern that will blend better with existing uniforms and equipment.
Uniforms with camouflage patterns imprinted thereon will have a tendency to fade over time as the uniforms are laundered. Wear studies that have been conducted demonstrate that military clothing fades with use and laundering. A lighter colored pattern, such as that of the '848 patent, will tend to become even lighter, thus reducing the effective range of the pattern. It would be advantageous to provide a darker colored camouflage pattern that will maintain its effective range even after repeated use and laundering.
U.S. Design Pat. No. D592,861 to Crye et al., issued on 26 May 2009 (the “'861 patent”), is directed to a substrate with a camouflage pattern. A pattern repeat of the camouflage design of the '861 patent includes a combination of elongated vertically oriented lines or elements interspersed among blotches in a pattern repeat of the camouflage pattern. A pattern repeat, as that term is generally understood, includes a width and a length, also referred to as fill and warp. The “fill” or width of the pattern repeat is generally in the horizontal direction. The “warp” or length of the repeat is generally along the vertical direction. In this and many other patterns, the warp or length of the pattern repeat is less than the fill or width of the pattern repeat. The elongated vertically oriented lines or elements of the '861 patent referred to above are disposed in the fill direction of the pattern repeat.
The distinctive vertically oriented line elements of the '861 patent, also referred to as vertical twig and branch elements, are elongated and thin. Such elongated thin line elements will have a tendency to appear to merge together at shorter distances. The effectiveness of a camouflage pattern that includes elongated and thin vertically oriented line elements in transitional environments can be compromised due to signature cues in the vertical direction, meaning that the elongated thin vertical line elements in the camouflage pattern will stand out or be readily perceived. It would be advantageous to provide a camouflage pattern that lacks signature cues in the vertical direction and thus has improved performance over a wide range of terrains.
The camouflage design of the '861 patent includes numerous light and dark brown areas. The number of these smaller blotches creates a dense pattern of such blotches in the camouflage design. These smaller blotches, together with the elongated vertically oriented lines or elements in the '861 patent, results in a cluttered appearance in the pattern of the '861 patent. Over a longer range, such a dense and cluttered pattern does not aid the wearer in preventing detection as much as a pattern with larger blotches in it. It would be advantageous to provide a camouflage pattern that does not result in a dense pattern of cluttered blotches to enhance detection prevention at longer distances.
Although there are numerous elements (by count) in the camouflage design of the '861 patent, the percentage of area of a pattern repeat that is taken up by the two colors of greatest contrast in the pattern (dark brown and cream) is similar and the average size of the blotches in the pattern is not large, meaning that the blotches will not be seen as individual blotches over longer ranges. Rather, the blotches will be perceived to merge together. It would be advantageous to be able to increase the range over which individual colors of the camouflage pattern blotches are seen as individual blotches.
The camouflage pattern design of the '861 patent does not include light and dark color gradient portions that are generally uniform across the entirety of the warp or fill direction in the brown layer of a single pattern repeat. Rather, the distribution of dark and light color regions of the camouflage pattern of the '861 patent is random in direction, size and location for the dark and light portions of the pattern. This results in gradient differences in the camouflage pattern of the '861 patent that might be referred to as “scattered.” A disadvantage of such scattered gradient differences is that the pattern may not have any portion with larger sized blotches contrasting in color with other large or small blotches. This may result in a shorter effective range of the overall pattern.
U.S. Design Pat. No. D560,915 to Crye et al., issued 5 Feb. 2008, is directed to a camouflage pattern with a blocky or pixelated appearance. This camouflage pattern includes vertically oriented lines and elements interspersed on or within the camouflage pattern. The effectiveness of a pattern that includes vertical lines or elements can be compromised due to signature cues in the vertical direction.
U.S. Design Pat. No. D572,909 to Crye et al, issued 15 Jul. 2008, is directed to a camouflage pattern. The design of the camouflage pattern of the '909 patent is very similar to that of the '915 patent in that it is also blocky or pixilated in appearance. The main difference between the '915 patent and the '909 patent is that the overall pattern of the camouflage design of the '909 patent is lighter in coloring than that of the '915 patent. The general geometry of the shapes in the pattern, vertical stripes and gradients are substantially the same as that of the design of the '915 patent. Changing the colors of the pattern of the '909 patent to be lighter in shade from the pattern of the '915 patent may only provide a slight increase in effectiveness when placed in arid-like terrains. However, the lighter colored pattern of the '909 patent may have a tendency to be less effective in darker terrains.
Each of the '848, '861, '909 and '915 patents include seven separate color layers that combine together in printing and results in more than seven colors in the final pattern. Each color would be applied separately in the traditional rotary screen printing process, as described in more detail below.
In 2010, a prototype camouflage design developed by the US Army Natick Soldier Research Development and Engineering Center (NSRDEC) also included a seven (7) color pattern. This pattern, referred to as the “W20601” pattern, included the colors and color percentage scheme shown in Table I below. The color percentages represent the amount of the color in the pattern relative to the entire screen for one repeat of the pattern.
While suitable for its intended purposes, the W20601 pattern was found to suffer from the deficiency of sufficient brown coloration in the pattern to accommodate certain environments and terrains, such as arid and woodland dormant environments. This deficiency could limit the environments in which the W20601 pattern could be deployed as an effective camouflage pattern.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a camouflage pattern that addresses at least some of the problems identified above.
Table I illustrates each of the percentages of the seven colors that are present in the W20601, the '861 and the '848 camouflage patterns which are discussed above.
TABLE IColor PercentagesColorW20601′848 Patent′861 Patent1Olive 527OliveOlive 52719.1%21.4%14.6%2Dark Green 528Dark GreenDark Green 52812.6%19.8% 8.2%3Pale Green 526Pale GreenPale Green 526 6.8% 5.8% 5.8%4Tan 525TanTan 525 1.8% 1.7% 2.2%5Brown 529BrownBrown 52919.7%15.3% 5.4%6Dark Brown 530Dark BrownDark Brown 530 7.6% 5.5% 7.6%7Cream 524CreamCream 524 6.6% 4.9% 6.8%Combination16.3% 6.5%19.7%of 1 & 2Combination 9.7%19.0%29.7%of 3 & 4 & 5
The combinations illustrated in Table I above are representative of the combination of colors when the different color channels or layers are overlaid during printing. It will be understood that during a camouflage pattern printing process, such as a rotary screen printing process, for example, the different color layers of the camouflage pattern will be overlaid, one on top of another. The manner and timing in which one color layer is overlaid onto another color layer in rotary screen printing is generally understood in the art. Generally, the color dyes that are placed on the fabric dry at the same time as part of the process of rotary screen printing. This color layering process can result in the colors of the different color layers being combined during the printing process.
When a blotch of one color layer is similarly positioned relative to the location of a blotch of another color layer in a stack of color layers, there will be a combination of the colors of the respective color blotches on the different color layers. This combination, depending on the saturation and coverage of the respective colors, can result in a different color or a gradient that combines the two or three colors layers involved in different amounts.
Using the Adobe Photoshop™ computer graphics or photo editing program, the color percentage calculations in Table I above were determined using the following exemplary process:
Work with a Single RGB image to which layers can be added. If using a multichannel file, use “File”-->“Open as Smart Object” first and save the resulting file to its own filename to avoid confusion.
Set the Magic Wand tool to “Tolerance: 10”, “Anti-Alias: Off”, “Contiguous: Off”, and “Sample All Layers: Off”. Use the magic wand tool to select a region of the pattern that exhibits 100% coverage of a single color. Starting with the Cream and the Dark Brown blotches, determine the pixel count using the histogram's uncached values for each of the independent colors.
If the region of interest with a gradient is composed of two colors that vary between 100% coverage and 0% coverage, select the entire geometry where those colors appear. Pressing the Shift key will allow the adding of geometry to the selection; pressing Alt will subtract it. Only select colors involved in the gradient.
The entire region that includes the gradient is selected and designated in a manner that demonstrates the selection area that is filled with the specified color. In the Adobe Photoshop™ program, “marching ants” are used, which is an animation technique often found in selection tools of computer graphics programs. The “marching ants” distinguish the selection border from the image background by animating the border with a dotted or dashed line. The dots or dashes will seem to walk slowly sideways and up and down.
A new layer is created based on the selected area. Using the paint bucket tool, this selected area is filled in with white on the new layer. This will cause the marching ants to outline the area of interest, avoiding the other colors. If an error is made, un-hide this layer, re-select the white area, and hide it again.
Uncheck the eye to hide the white and select the background layer. Set the Magic Wand Tool to 10% Tolerance and Alt+Click on one area from each of the colors that's fully covered. Doing this will unselect the areas in the geometry that are 100% covered by the colors involved in the gradient. Using the histogram, write down the number of uncached pixels that are selected by the marching ants. This number will represent the number of pixels that are in between the 100% covered colors.
Divide each of the uncached pixel counts for each of the colors by the sum of the counts to find the ratio that each color takes in the pattern.
While the above exemplary process is described as being carried out using the Adobe Photoshop™ program, it is noted that any suitable photo editor or computer graphics program can be used to determine the percentages of color in a camouflage pattern.